Matt McIlvane, a winner of multiple championships coaching in Europe, was named Tuesday as coach of the San Diego Gulls, the Ducks’ AHL affiliate.
It has been a steady revolving door in San Diego as the 37-year-old McIlvane will be Gulls’ fourth coach in four seasons, following the recently retired Roy Sommer, Joel Bouchard in 2021-22 and Kevin Dineen in 2020-21.
The Gulls are coming off a historically bad season (20-49-3), finishing last overall in the 32-team AHL with 43 points. And there was a 20-point gap between the Gulls and their closest competitor in the Pacific Division, the Henderson Silver Knights (29-38-5).
Even with some highly rated organizational prospects on the way to San Diego, McIlvane is facing a significant challenge with the Gulls.
“Matt brings a winning pedigree to our organization in addition to a strong culture of development and performance,” Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek said. “Our players in San Diego will benefit from his leadership, philosophy, and his championship experience in Europe and the international level.”
The bulk of McIlvane’s coaching experience has been spent in Europe. Most recently, with EC Red Bull Salzburg, he won consecutive league championships in 2021-22 and 2022-23.
“I am humbled to be the next coach of the San Diego Gulls,” McIlvane said in a statement. “I am incredibly grateful to Pat Verbeek for the trust to take on this responsibility. The Samueli family runs a first-class organization, and it is an honor to join the hockey club. I can’t wait to meet the rest of the management, staff and players. We are ready for the challenge to develop Ducks prospects into NHL players and give the fans at Pechanga Arena San Diego an exciting team to cheer for.”
Before joining Salzburg, he was an associate coach with EHC Red Bull München in 2018-19 and an assistant coach there for four seasons, starting in 2014.
McIlvane was also an assistant on Germany’s coaching staff in 2018 at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, which was a silver-medal effort.
